1/ Assignment: For the essay, choose one television show/character that relies on stereotyping to develop the character. Write an essay discussing how the plot or humor relies on either a gender, ethnic, or sexual orientation stereotype (ONLY PICK ONE). Also, please discuss whether this stereotype has become more apparent or less apparent over the years and whether it has deepened our understanding of people or perpetuated the stereotypical point-of-view in America. For example, the sitcom show Will and Grace premiered in 1998 and ran until 2006 (imdb.com). The show deals with issues with gay men and has won several Emmy awards and nominations. However the show’s humor relies on the over-the-top gay character named Jack McFarland. Just Jack is a one dimensional character whose comedic value depends strongly on an unflattering gay stereotype (gay men are theatrical, judgmental, promiscuous, and catty). One could make the argument that Jack’s character is either detrimental to the public image of gay men or take the other opinion that Jack’s exuberant character positively influenced the American perception of gay men (since the series ran so long). The show was so popular and had such a strong following, that NBC (Links to an external site.) brought the show back in October 2017. We have already looked at stereotyping in general on your Festival of Knowledge, but for this essay, we are going to focusing on one of the three specific stereotypes mentioned above (gender, ethnic, or sexual orientation stereotype). Stereotypes: The difference between stereotyping and generalizing can be tricky to define. According to Cortes, when speaking about groups of people: Stereotypical statements tend to use or imply “all“ or “almost all“ when dealing with certain groups or group members. By speaking or writing in this sweeping manner, stereotypes encourage other to internalize those perceptions and apply them broadly to ‘all’ or ‘almost all’ of a group’s members” (6). Gender stereotypes are “simplistic generalizations about the gender attributes, differences, and roles of individuals and/or groups. Stereotypes can be positive or negative, but they rarely communicate accurate information about others” (“Oversimplified”). You can pick any television show. However sitcom shows may be an easier subject matter than dramas or reality TV shows. In order to find the back-story on television shows, you can look up the shows on the internet by the title or search for the show on the network’s website. I encourage students to look up facts and statistics from the Internet Movie Database as well as through the show’s web site or any free streaming service ** Television sitcoms are the easiest subject matter to use for this essay and reality TV shows may be more difficult. By this point, most of you can identify stereotypes, but I have listed some below as examples. These are just sample stereotypes that are used in the media and not my personal beli.